i just bought my foreman 500 es and i'm not diggen the es part to much, i grew up on sport quads with manuals, this whole push a button thing is gunna take alot of gettin used to. or........ what about switchen it to a S? all i would need is a new left side snap panel and an actuall shifter, not one that came as a back up. would this work? am i realy gunna mess up the silinoid or even worse the tranny for some reason? i'm just brain storming here, i'm sure the es is fine and all idk i just gotta get used to the lag time it takes to switch gears, i tend to hit the throttle before it actually shifts. (not good). this might be a bumb idea but i figured i would throw it out there. but i love this quad even with the es, just gunna need a little gettin used to.

bowz

 

no idea's?

 

Theres way more to it than just switching the shafts, the cheapest and best route, is to trade it in on an s model, if youre realy unhappy with it.
I like mine, and it took awhile to get used to the button, but its typical honda...itll work if you do the maintaince. Make sure to do the clutch adjustment at least once a year, and keep a good, fully charged battery in it.
Power shifting doesnt seem to hurt mine, itll take it. Just make sure you just stab the button, both forcefully and quickly, and youll see the shifting will smooth out when you get the hang of it. The only complaint i have, is not being able to hold the shift lever in neutral to allow engine rpm matching in downshifts, like you can on an S model.

 

Give it some time.

 

You're a lucky man. I plan on getting an '06 Green ES just like the one you have within the next week or so. Give it some time. I personally think Electric Shift is the best feature Honda has. Its the reason im going back to them. Like others said, give it time. You'll learn to love it. I cant wait to go back to ES. Its my favorite type of transmission in any brand of ATV. How do you like yours?

 

well i went out ridding today, much better, its gunna take some gettin used to, but i think i can deal with it. i'm not gunna be able to jam gears like i do with my 400ex. but i dont need to, its not ment for it. its crazy how easy i can pop the front tires up, and it rides awsome. i think i'll be happy with the es. thanks for the replys

bowz

 

jonjon, i think we replyed at the same time. as for how i liek it. I LOVE IT. the thing is pretty fast, i was suprised. suspention is nice, not quite as plush as the sp500, but a whole heck of alot better in the turns and more controlable off of the jumps. i love the fact that its a auto clutch manual shift, much better than the belt on the 500, even thow i'm taking longer than i'd like to get used to the es part. the front is SO LIGHT. you can bring it up in 2nd and ride it just a blip and the tires hop over fallen trees. it iddles smoth, with verry liittle vibration, 1st is super super low, i find my self using 2nd to start off in alot, has plenty of power for that. its got tons of low end torq, tonight thow i'm gunna go clip the carb spring, they say it makes even more of a low end grunt.(quicker response) it has a pretty tall 5th gear, but nuttin to complain about. the thing that i will miss from the sp500 is the ground clearence and front diff lock. i'll be gettin the DGL for this thow. i feel that i couldn't have done better picking out a 500class atv. this is my second and love this one 10 times more than my ol polaris, and so will my check book haha. i've ridden several rubicons and i feel that this has a better thottle respone, doesn't seem to dogg it self like the rubicon, especially from a dead stop. well good luck, u'll be happy with it i promise. keep us posted

bowz